Game Theory
by DistressedSapphic
Summary: Canon Divergent 1x02. After a challenge is set, Regina and Emma find themselves in a zero-sum game that neither can afford to lose. Set during the moment besides "You're Henry's Birth Mother?" "HI" moment that I knew I was going to ship these two until I died.


**Summary:** Canon Divergent 1x02. After a challenge is set, Regina and Emma find themselves in a zero-sum game that neither can afford to lose. Set during the moment besides "You're Henry's Birth Mother?" "HI" moment that I knew I was going to ship these two until I fucking died when I was watching this with my friend and she turned to me and said, "And this is the part where Emma artfully takes a chainsaw to Regina's apple tree, signaling to the Alpha Lesbian that she is ready to mate."  
**A/N: **This wasn't as smutty as I wanted it to be. But I'm digging the tone. For the people in the Facebook group that liked my comment and the ones that expressed a mighty need for this prompt, this one is for you. Also this is totes unbetaed so sorry in advance about the typos. :D  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters, universes or situations. They belong to Disney, ABC etc, etc. I claim no rights to copyrighted material and this story is purely for entertainment purposes.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?"

Pink lips pressed tightly in a thin line, the corners curling into a victorious smile. When Emma conjured up her retaliation, she could only imagine what the Mayor would say and do when she saw the state of her beloved apple tree. This tree that she apparently cared for since she was a little girl.

Well, fuck her. And fuck this tree.

"Picking apples," Emma replied, smugly, abandoning the chainsaw in her hand with same careless effort as one might reserve for 'dropping the mic.'

She won this round. And she knew that she did. Just looking at Regina — riled up, her eyes ignited with a fiery murderous blaze, Emma knew she won. The consequences of this little power play could be terrible and long-lasting. But that was an issue for Future-Emma to deal with. Right now, the Emma of the Present was just going to savor her well-deserved victory.

The Mayor stormed over to her, in a grey wrap dress. Her stride was strained like she was fighting against herself to break out into a full on run and take Emma down in a flying tackle.

Pfft. Like she'd love to see Regina try. What was she like a buck-thirty soaking wet? Probably never been a fight her whole life and Emma would be absolutely shocked if little Madam Tightly Wound even knew how to throw a punch.

"You're out of your mind!" Regina fired at her.

And Emma wondered briefly if this really worked. This front that the Mayor put on, why hadn't anyone else seen through it yet? Regina had fired on her with both barrels and Emma hadn't even broken a sweat yet. Was this the famed Mayor of Storybrooke that everyone, literally everyone including that fucking useless Sheriff was afraid of?

Emma just couldn't see it. What was so scary about this woman?

"No," she replied, plainly, adding, "You are if you think a shotty frame job is enough to scare me off. You're going to have to better than that." There, the gauntlet had been thrown down. But just to drive it home, her voice dropped low with a threatening tone. "If you come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree. Because sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

The look Regina gave her — it wasn't what she expected. Because yes, there was angry there, rage even. But there was something else hidden just underneath all of that. Emma could see it in the way Regina's eyes darkened, and her lip arched almost in a snarl however it was more a smirk.

Interesting — Well, weird and unnerving. But also interesting.

Emma didn't respond to it and instead she just turned around, throwing a "Your move" over her shoulder as she walked away. But then Regina called to her and what she said was like ice water down her back.

"Do you think if Henry knew the truth about your childhood that he would ever forgive you for putting him in the same system that failed you?"

That was a low blow, even from the Queen of Low Blows. Because damn if she couldn't look right through someone and see their greatest fear. Emma did wonder, if Henry knew, truly knew her story would he still understand? If he knew about the terrible foster parents, the times she went hungry, the times she went to bed knowing there wasn't a single person in this world that loved her, would he understand why she still gave him up? It was the all-consuming thought that had her staring up at the ceiling of the Bed and Breakfast on a sleepless night.

As soon as she turned back and closed the distance between them, Emma knew that she had lost. She had taken the bait and now Regina had her on the hook.

"My son is a very kind person, Miss Swan," the Mayor continued. "But I don't think he'll ever forgive you for abandoning him."

Emma scoffed. She could turn this around. "If he's anything like me, probably he won't."

She tried not to smile at the way Regina's haughty expression broke for a moment at her words. But she enjoyed it. Emma couldn't deny that. Not to herself. Maybe out loud if Regina asked. But she didn't. She was too busy knowing Emma had guessed correctly.

"That's your deepest darkest fear, isn't it?" Emma needled. "That even after all the work you put in, he's still more me than he is you."

"Please," the Mayor dismissed her. "The day I see you as competition will be the day you find me hanging from that apple tree, Miss Swan."

"On that day, I'll bring the rope, Madam Mayor," Emma fired back.

"Yes, let's add 'accessory to murder' to the list of your crimes," Regina replied, rolling her eyes.

Emma mirrored her. "'Accessory to murder?' Are you always such a drama queen?"

Regina stared daggers at her. "And have you really not evolved passed your petulant delinquant phase?"

Emma stepped in, they were almost nose to nose again. "Fuck you!"

The Mayor arched an eyebrow, stepping forward too, and what came out next surprised them both. "Fuck me yourself, you coward!"

And if that was surprising then Emma's response was equally shocking. "Fine!"

So there they were, standing face-to-face in Regina's backyard under the shadow of her apple tree. The gauntlet had been thrown down, the challenge issued, and yet they were both frozen in that moment just before a decision was made.

This was a zero-sum game. There would be an obvious winner and an obvious loser. If Emma walked away, she'd prove herself a coward. If she didn't— well, the Mayor would most assuredly use this against her at a later date.

That being said—

Totally Future-Emma's problem.

But before Present-Emma could make a choice, either way, Regina decided for them both with a challenging, "Well?!"

* * *

If this was one of those stories, there'd be a line of clothes leading from the back door to the study, and clipped moans would echo down the long hallways of Regina's mansion. If this was one of those stories, both women would take this slow and steady. It would be soft, warm, and sensual. It would be an equal exchange of power. And both would be aware and concerned for the other's feelings.

It would be the beginning of a love story for the ages.

But this was not one of those stories.

Emma hadn't even taken off her boots. And Regina hadn't removed her heels. It was hard and punishing. It was nails raking down every inch of exposed skin, leaving angry red lines in their wake. It was teeth scraping along pulse points and an exchange of biting insults, as the sound of satin ripping bounced of the marble floors. It wasn't giving. It was demanding, and brutal. It was shoving someone down on their knees and pulling their hair just this side of true pain. Neither one was concerned with other's feelings, the emotional fallout wasn't something they'd bothered themselves with. All that mattered was winning this battle.

Emma might have been the one on her knees, but she still thought she had won this one, too. After all, Regina was the one with her dress hiked up to her waist, bare ass hanging off her desk, with a pair of ruined satin panties hanging precariously from one of her ankles, and begging for her touch.

Well, not in so many words. No. The Mayor of Mixed Signalsville wouldn't degrade her by pleading for someone's touch. She's probably convinced herself that she was in control. That Emma was kneeling to worship at her feet. Yeah the fuck right. Regina might not have conceded but her legs draped over Emma's shoulders, holding her close as her hips moved to match the other woman's unrelenting mouth, it was hard to see her as the victor here.

Again Emma might be on her knees, but she held all of the cards here. Regina was open, vulnerable. But the supposed savior didn't mistake vulnerable for harmless. After all a tiger was still a tiger and not a lamb. Even if she was trembling, and waiting for release, Regina was still dangerous.

"You're close," Emma declared, softly, her lips ghosting along the smooth expanse of Regina's inner thigh.

"You're cocky." The breathy quality of her voice took the bite out of that insult.

"I've earned it."

"Fuck you."

Emma chuckled. "I could always stop, Madam Mayor."

Her words provoked a fury that she had only seen from Regina moments ago when she took a chainsaw to the Mayor's apple tree. "I will fucking kill y— nuh!"

Yes, she had won. Regina was teetering on the edge and her release was in Emma's hands. She could spin this any way she wanted to, but she was the one that asked for this. And Regina was the one that was threatening death if Emma didn't give it to her.

So here they were. Emma's tongue working the Mayor up and Regina leaning back on her desk, legs still keeping the other woman close, as her hands slipped into blond curls with a grip that didn't so much border on painful as it was painful. Emma understood, she supposed. She'd be pissed too if the situation was reversed and it was her body quaking with need.

But as punishments go, Emma was getting off light.

She reminded herself that there was always tomorrow or the day after that. Regina would make her pay for this; the Mayor would have her revenge. However, as Emma also reminded herself that was a problem to be sorted out another day. When she could hate herself for enjoying this on some level. She could have thought of so many reasons to walk away and not do this. And she will, later, when the adrenaline wore off and she came down from this high. But none of those things stopped her.

Emma had offered Regina up the means to utterly destroy her and she had done it without so much of a second thought as to how this would ruin everything. Her sole focus right now was finally bringing the Mayor over the edge, not the moral and emotional ramifications of having her face buried between her son's adopted mother's thighs.

"Oh… Oh… Fuck!" She had never head Regina's voice like this before. Light, breathy, shaky. She sounded surprised and if Emma wasn't mistaken, almost unsure.

Jesus, how long has it been for her?

Emma wouldn't have an answer to a question she wouldn't dare to ask anyway. Because the moment she thought it, Regina snapped taunt, her back arching almost artfully on her desk, her leg clenching around Emma as one hand went to dark lips to muffle a drawn out moan.

She savored the moment as long as she could with light strokes of her tongue as the woman above her slowly settled on the oak desk. Hands weakly shoved at her and Emma slowly got to her feet with a laugh deep in her chest. She paused to etch the image of leaving Regina a disheveled mess in her memory forever, wiping the evidence of what they had just done with her hand, unable to hid the smirk that bloomed on her features when the Mayor sneered at her in disgust.

"Get out," Regina ordered, trying to retain some dignity.

Emma had to give it to her. She almost pulled it off. But it was hard to be scared of this woman when Emma could still taste her on her tongue like an afterthought. "With pleasure." She turned to leave, stopping only once, just at the door to the study. "Still your move, Regina."

* * *

**So I may or may not turn this into my retelling of Once if it was on HBO and written by queer women. Let me know if you'd like me to continue with a comment/review. Cheers y'all. **


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